My Fated Mate Can Have Her

Chapter 271: Borrowed Time [18+]

Rowan

"Rowan," she whispered, her hands finding my shoulders as I sank in deep.

She whimpered beneath me, her hips shifting, trying to move.

I pulled back slowly, dragging through her clenching heat, and thrust back in.

She cried out.

Her pleasure and want crashed through me, and layered beneath it, I felt her feeling my desperation, my relief, my consuming need for her.

The bond between us pulsed, silver and hot, binding us together in a way that went beyond flesh.

I began to move. Long, deep strokes that pulled almost all the way out before driving back in. Each thrust pressed me against that spot inside her, and she gasped every time, her nails raking down my back.

The bed creaked beneath us.

I braced myself on one arm and slid the other beneath her, gripping her backside and tilting her hips up to meet my thrusts. The new angle made her cry out again, louder, and I felt her walls clench around me.

She moaned my name, broken and desperate, and I drove into her harder.

I had been on edge since the boat, aching and desperate, and now buried inside her I knew I wouldn’t last long.

But I needed her to finish first.

My hand slipped between us, finding her swollen center. I rubbed it in tight circles, matching the rhythm of my thrusts, and felt her whole body jerk.

"Rowan—"

I kissed her, swallowing her words, and pressed harder with my fingers.

Her back arched off the bed, her walls clamping down on me so tight I couldn’t hold back any longer.

I drove into her one last time, burying myself as deep as I could go, and finished with a groan. My release pulsed out of me in hot, endless waves, and I felt her drawing out every last drop.

I shuddered, burying my face in her neck as her arms came up around me, holding me close.

Our breathing slowly steadied.

I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay like this forever, buried inside her warmth, her heartbeat steady beneath mine.

But even as the bond settled into a low, warm hum between us, I felt the hunger stirring again.

I needed more.

I shifted, pressing a kiss to her throat, then another to her jaw. My hand found her breast, cupping it gently, my thumb brushing over her nipple.

She shivered beneath me.

"Rowan?" Her voice was soft, drowsy.

"Again," I murmured against her skin, already hardening inside her again. "I need you again."

I lifted my head to look at her. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her cheeks flushed, and her lips were swollen from my kisses.

I watched her face as I began to move again, slowly this time.

"Rowan..."

"Is this alright?" I asked softly.

She nodded, her hands sliding down to grip my shoulders.

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes."

I kissed her, long and deep, and lost myself in her all over again.

[ - ]

"I’m hungry."

Her voice was soft, muffled against my chest.

I blinked, pulled from the drowsy haze I had been drifting in. We were tangled together beneath the covers, her hair still damp from the bath we had shared.

I could not clearly recall how many times we had gone at it now.

"Hungry," I repeated, the word slowly registering.

She nodded against my chest, and I felt her stomach rumble faintly.

I stiffened.

She hadn’t eaten in the morning and had hardly consumed the fruits on the boat.

I sat up abruptly, my mind racing.

Food. She needed food.

"Rowan?"

"Telsid!" The mental link snapped open before I could temper the urgency in my voice. "I need food brought to my chambers. Immediately. And..."

I hesitated, immediately remembering something crucial.

"Add a post-contraceptive draught too."

The silence on the other end of the link was deafening.

"Telsid!"

"My Lord?" his shocked tone rippled through the link.

"You heard me."

"Right. Yes. Food and the draught. I’ll have it sent up in the next fifteen minutes."

The link went quiet, and I exhaled slowly.

Violet had pushed herself up onto her elbow, watching me with curious eyes. The covers had slipped, revealing the curve of her shoulder, and the marks I had left on her collarbone.

"What’s wrong?" she asked.

I turned to face her, trying to keep my expression calm.

"I’ve asked for food to be brought up," I said. "And... a contraceptive draught."

Her eyes went wide.

The flush that spread across her cheeks was immediate and violent, rushing down her neck and chest. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.

"I— I didn’t—" She pressed her hands to her face, her voice coming out strangled. "I didn’t even think about that."

"Neither did I," I admitted.

She made a small, mortified sound, her shoulders hunching.

I reached for her, pulling her against me despite her weak protest. She was stiff in my arms at first, still hiding her face, but gradually she relaxed, melting into my chest.

"It’s alright," I murmured against her hair. "The draught will work. There’s nothing to worry about."

She nodded, but didn’t lift her face.

I held her, stroking her back, and tried to ignore the hollow ache that had settled in my chest.

I would have liked for her to have our children.

I wanted to see her round with our pups, wanted to hold them in my arms, and watch them grow in the safety of my territory.

But I couldn’t say that, especially not now. I wouldn’t want her pulling away again if I pushed too hard.

So I swallowed the words and held her tighter.

My mind drifted to darker thoughts.

Kael.

He would come for her eventually. I knew this. The message Bei’s companions had sent would reach Fresna, and when it did, he would absolutely not sit idle.

I needed to bond with her.

If I marked her before he arrived, if I made her mine in a way that could not be undone, then it wouldn’t matter what he said or did. She would be my mate in truth, bound to me by blood and bond.

But I couldn’t force it.

She had to choose me. She had to want it.

I just needed to make sure she chose me before he had a chance to complicate things.